


Properties of Explosive Materials

by Whiskeyjack



Series: Wolves of Ranulfr [2]
Category: Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Battle report, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Space Wolves, Tau - Warhammer 40000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 21:03:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9516059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whiskeyjack/pseuds/Whiskeyjack
Summary: Skaegr presses a desperate retreat, but runs into more trouble.





	

Skaegr cursed under his breath. After their hastened retreat from the ruins, Ranulfr was nowhere to be found. He refused to believe that the pack leader would have gone down so easily, but there had been laser fire from every direction, and he could no longer pick up the wolf’s scent on the air. He was now the highest ranking officer in their somewhat bruised force, and the others looked to him to lead. 

They had been joined up by an auxiliary force of Grey Hunters with Fenrisian wolves, who had been following a few clicks behind them and were too far away to engage in the first skirmish. Not wanting to go back into the forest and lead the xenos to their landing party, Skaegr had them move east, into an adjoining set of ruins where they had encountered the Tau. 

At least there was much better cover here, even if the buildings surrounding them were falling apart. One of the Fenrisian wolves scrambled ahead, nose pressed to the ground like a hunting dog. It growled, the fur bristling on its neck, and Skaegr looked up to see what the wolf had spotted. It was more Tau, their red armour moving across the battlements ahead of them, lining up in a row as their comrades did just moments before.

He barked an order over the vox, calling for the Grey Hunters to spread out and keep behind cover. He didn’t want to make the same mistake Ranulfr did; underestimate the enemy and get picked off by a firing line. Admittedly, it was not the pack leader’s fault that the lack of a safe advancement path caused their failed charge, but he did not want to be responsible for more deaths from this force. 

There was a large statue of an Adeptus Astartes in the middle of the square, his head bowed and his hands clasped around the hilt of a power sword with its blade down. Three of the Grey Hunters were huddled behind it, trying to keep out of line of site of the Tau sitting along the parapets of the battlement ahead of them. The sight would have been amusing had the situation not been so dire. To the left, two Fenrisian wolves accompanied another two marines, and Skaegr was crouched in front of a crumbling wall, with the rest of his men behind him. 

He watched as two of the Tau Stealthsuits flanked their position from the right, their armour shimmering as it tried to accommodate the changing environment. Two Fire Warriors followed behind them, hefting their guns up as they crouched behind the suits. One of the suits fired its jetpack, leaving a trail of smoke behind it as it sailed into the air and landed on the second level of the broken building. Skaegr snarled as the landing knocked some dust loose in front of him. 

He howled, spurring the Wolves into action. A Fenrisian wolf scrambled up the crumbling plasticrete, intending to charge the Stealthsuit before it could take off again, but the suit was too fast, firing a shot that sent the beast dropping to the ground. The three Grey Hunters had turned, noticing the flanking force on their right, and opened fire on it, their boltguns’ hammering shots echoing in the square. Sniffing the air, he sensed his battle brothers on the left proceeding with their own flanking maneuver, hoping to gain an advantage in this engagement. 

He fired off a shot from his storm bolter, but it went wide, pinging off the rocks beside the Tau. The marines behind him had taken aim at the suit on the upper level, boltguns thundering in his ears as they sought to avenge the fallen wolf, its whimpers still fresh in the air. But all of their shots missed. 

Another wolf sprang up behind him, in an attempt to tackle the Stealthsuit, but it rocketed away to the floor above, out of reach. The wolf could only growl uselessly at it from the lower level, jaws snapping in the air. 

Aiming at the Stealthsuits wasn't working, so Skaegr redirected his men's attention to the two Fire Warriors. This yielded better results, and they crumpled to the ground as the boltgun shots struck home. 

The three marines crouched behind the statue moved out to support their brothers on the left flank. On the battlements ahead, Skaegr spotted this unit's commander, his bare, unhelmeted face twisted in a growl as he issued orders to his Fire Warriors, their guns loaded and ready to unleash their payload upon the Space Wolves. 

He saw some boltgun shots glint in the light, being fired from the left. The marines on that side must be trying to create a distraction, to let the forces here close the distance without the chance of being shot at. He sent a quick prayer to Russ and the Allfather thanking the quick thinking of the men, and hoped they would survive the answering volley that was undoubtedly coming. 

As if they had heard his thoughts, the Tau lined up on the battlements turned and fired, the sound of their rifles discharging ringing in the air. There no wasn’t time to waste breath on a vox message, so he gritted his teeth, and charged the Stealthsuit ahead of him. 

It released a torrent of fire at him, but he reacted quickly, ducking left and right to avoid the laser fire, and finally closing in to melee range. His chainsword sang out, its teeth whistling a sweet symphony to his ears as he brought it down with a whirring crash into the chest armour of the Stealthsuit. The Tau inside tried to bring up his suit’s arms to grapple him, but it was too slow, and Skaegr wrestled it to the ground, kicking its legs out from under it and causing it to fall. The chainsword cut a ragged path through the chest plate, sparking and dribbling machine oil and xenos blood. 

He pulled the chainsword out, and looked to the remaining Tau on the battlements. He was not yet done, and the wolf inside him demanded more blood. He gave in to its howls, a red mist descending upon his vision as it always did when he let himself succumb to the rage of the Canis Helix. 

He ran back to the ruined building, seeking cover from the pulse fire that was pinging the ground behind him as the Tau sought to avenge their fallen comrade. Even if his blood was up, he was still clearheaded enough to be sensible about his mortality. Slamming his back to the wall, he blind fired his storm bolter, hoping to cover his brothers as they moved up behind him. 

Two of them fell from shots piercing armour, their yells of angered pain stirring Skaegr’s own anger further. The other three had disappeared around the other side of the wall, and he could hear their heavy footfalls even from where he was crouched. 

Above him, there was a whirring of engines, and the Stealthsuit landed with a crash behind the wall. He heard a growl, then a shattering of plasticrete as the Fenrisian wolf charged through the second floor window right onto the Stealthsuit. It didn't even have a chance to fight back, the wolf a savage blur of claw and fur as it tore its prey to shreds. There was still one Stealthsuit remaining, and Skaegr had a feeling he knew where it went.

His vox crackled to life, as if on cue. “Skaegr! It's just me left, I'm pinned down!” The higher timbre of the voice indicated it was Ignisson, the youngest of the Grey Hunters, who had been recently promoted from the Blood Claws. He was headstrong and stubborn, as all brothers his age were, but also displayed a patience that seemed to temper it. But right now none of that was doing him any good. 

Skaegr nodded to one of the Grey Hunters with him, and he grunted in reply, dashing off to help their brother. That was one of the benefits of not wearing a helmet - the Vlka Fenryka could instantly convey a command using only their eyes and their movements, as well as better survey their surroundings with their heightened senses.  

Another barrage of pulse fire brought him back to the moment. The Tau commander was still issuing orders to his troops, but Skaegr was in a better position to fire at them now. He glanced over his shoulder, and broke from cover, yelling a battle cry as his stormbolter echoed out. 

His brothers followed suit behind him, and he heard them yelp as they fell, but he couldn’t spare a moment to check if they were still alive. He had one more desperate plan, and it was now or never. Grabbing a frag grenade from his belt, he yanked the pin out with his teeth and hurled it into the line of Tau, still trying to fire at the mass of Space Marine charging toward them. 

The explosion was deafening, knocking him back into the dirt. His two hearts were beating furiously, but his ears were ringing and he couldn’t open his eyes. The pain in his skull was thunderous, but he couldn’t lift his arm to check if he was bleeding. He could feel himself losing consciousness, but hearing the screams of the burning xenos made him think that if he died here today, it wouldn’t have been for nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> This game was played on 18 Jan. Result was a tie of VP between Tau and Space Wolves.
> 
> Title from Arrival OST.


End file.
